Sustainable wild collection
FairWild Standard Version 2.0
FairWild
What is the purpose of the FAIRWILD label?
Labelling enables your responsible sourcing for wild plants worldwide.
What are the key criteria of this certification?
The increasing demand for wild collected products poses major ecological and social challenges: The high demand of potentially vulnerable plants can endanger local ecosystems substantially. Besides, the poverty of collectors who often belong to the poorest social groups in the countries of origin is of increasing concern.
In order to alleviate these threats to the wild plant resources, but also to the human resources, the collectors, the FairWild Standard Version 2.0 was created.
The FairWild Standard Version 2.0:
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Guarantees sustainability for both wild plant and human resources, by combining the principles of fair trade, international labour standards (based on principles of the International Labour Organisation) and sustainability for wild collection (all principles of the ISSC-MAP)
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Foresees the management of plants and involved people through a management plan
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Requests resource assessments for target plant populations
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Requires an organizational structure for collectors in order to work jointly with the wild collection company on improvement of their social situation.
For which category of products or scope ?
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Products collected from the wild (e.g. medicinal and aromatic plants, gums and resins, wild fruits, nuts and seeds, mushrooms);
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Processed ingredients for finished products (e.g. essential oils and fatty oils);
Who can get certified ?
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Producers – or wild plant collection operations – are the only entities that are eligible for FairWild Certification.
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Wholesalers, ingredient distributors and intermediate processors of FairWild ingredients or semi-finished products can register as FairWild Traders.
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Finished product brand holders, (companies responsible for the labelling and marketing of the final packaged products), can register as FairWild Licensees.
Why choose Ecocert?
With nearly 30 years of experience for audit and certification of organic products in France and in more than 130 countries, Ecocert is the world's leading specialist in the certification of sustainable practices.
The original FairWild Standard v 1.0 was published in 2006 by Sippo (the Swiss import promotion programme) and Forum Essenzia e.V. in cooperation with the Institute for Marketecology IMO (today renamed and part of the Ecocert Group). Ecocert is thus the most experienced certification body in this field.
Useful links
How is the FairWild label displayed on your products?
FairWild certification is a third-party audited system, requiring annual onsite visits by authorised certification bodies like Ecocert. Over a five year period, the certified operations demonstrate their commitment to the FairWild Principles and Criteria, putting in place the building blocks of a sustainability system and meeting increasing requirements year-on-year.
Successful FairWild certificates are valid for 15 months. Audits are required annually, based on species harvest times.
Why FairWild - is organic certification not enough?
Additionally to the basic principles of organic wild collection and our special proceedings for certification, implementation of FairWild creates a management system in wild collection companies. Certified products are also upgraded and value added through the required fair trade system, which comprises of fair prices to collectors and premium fund development. Please note, that FairWild certification does not necessarily require an organic certification as it is an accepted standard.
Even if the FairWild logo is not used on the final product, FairWild guarantees constant supply of high quality raw materials by protecting collectors and collected plants!